Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127211
Bobby Bonds leads Tanya Faulkner in the Pee Wee class. Aa ron Wenstrup (9W) leads 80cc Junior class winner Jeff Willoh and the rest of the pack through turn one. Mike Metzg er (2 2) a nd winner Case y J ohns o n d ice in the 80cc Intermediate c lass. Mike Giem (M1 1 ) leads Kevin Wise on his way to second overa ll in t he 250cc J uni o r class. Phil Butler was the overall w inner. Willoh, Hawley & Butler blast Chowchilla Trans-Cal MX By Donn Maeda Photos by Maeda and Troy Scott CHOWCHILLA, CA, SEPT. 16-17 The third round of the Dodge Trucks/CMC Trans-Cal Series was held at th e Ch owch illa Fairgrounds and more than 400 riders showed up eager "to race on the speciallybuilt supercross track. But when" storm clouds gathe red . on Saturday m0f!lmg, many dreaded com petmg on th e 22 quagmire that th e track had becom e. Round three was a two da y event ; with th e pros and intermediates racing under th e lig h ts on Sa tur day night, a nd th e juniors and beginners co m pe ti ng o n Sunda y. The sky cleared and th e sun came o ut on Sunday, drying up th e track to th e deli ght of the racers. J eff Will oh, Sam H awl ey and Phil Butl er adap ted well to the cha ng ing track co nditio ns and topped th e 80, 125 and 250cc Junior cla sses, respec- tiv<:l y. Whil ~ a ll three riders took !h~lf class wms, they ,!ll went abo~ t tt In dtfferent ways. Wtlloh raced hi s Kaw asak i KX80 to 2-1 moto finishes, taking advan tage of a mi scalculation by Iirst-rnot o winner Aaron Wenstru p. H awl ey came back from a first moto error and screa med 10 th e second moto win, posting 3-1 scores to tak e th e overall in th e l25ccJunior class. The 250cc Junior class was dominat ed by Yam ah a-m ounted Phil Butl er, wh o cruise d to two easy moto victories, Wenstrup jumped o u t of th e ga te ahead of Willoh, Casey Hinkey and 15 o ther80cc class rid ers in moto one, but lost th e lead on the first lap wh en Will oh sailed past in th e do uble j um p sectio n. Wen stru p stuck 10 Willoh's rear fender and waited for an o pen ing. On lap three, Wen stru p pulled a lo ngside Will oh as th ey navigat ed the do uble jumps and sto le th e inside line of th e follow in g cor ner. Mea nw hi le, J o sh Bo ykin was working up from a bad start and di spl aced Chris Allen , wh o had been runnin g third. Alth ough Boykin tried to catch th e leaders, he co uld n' t mat ch th eir speed and had 10 settl e for third. Wen strup cro ssed th e finish line four bike lengths ahea d of Willoh and a distant Boykin. Wen strup g ra bbe d th e seco n d mo to hol esh ot, but stuc k to hi s leathers were Will oh, J ake Windham and Allen . Willoh was riding his boo ts off trying to ta ke th e lead, but Wen str up began to pull away from th e Kawasaki pi lot. On th e white flag lap Wen strup held a substant ia l lead over Willoh and Windham , wh o was fighting off th e advances of J eff T ilt on . Wenstrup looked to have th e win in th e bag, but m isjudged a double and cras hed. Willoh took th e rn oto win and th e o vera ll, ahea d of Windham , Barker and Tilton. In the l25cc Junior class Sam Hawl ey tim ed the gate perfectl y and led the pack down th e front straigh t " in rnoto o ne, just behind Hawl ey were David Casada, Eri c Ducray and Tra vis Fl eming. Ca sada pulled alongside Hawley at th e half way point and took over the lead as th e pair attac ked the double jump section. Hawley tried 10 reta liate, but lost h is momentum and allowed Casada to open up a sma ll lead. Hawl ey came up short o n a double jump a nd was ej ected from hi s Suzuki, allo wing DuCray 10 slip into secon d. Hawl ey quickl y remounted, and proceeded to push DuCray for th e rema ining half lap. Casada took th e rn oto win just ahead of DuCray, H awl ey and Fleming. H awl ey dumped hi s clutch before th e other 19 juniors and Wabbed the seco nd moto holeshot In front of Casada, DuCray and Fleming. On lap four , Casada pulled alongside in the doubles again, but Haw ley shut the door in the following turn. DuCray cut to the inside and sto le th e runner-up position from Casada, then set his sig h ts on the leader. Although DuCray mad e repeated a ttem p ts to pass, Hawley held his lines and took th e moto win . Hawley came o ut on lOp of th e three-way tie with hi s 3-1 scores. DuCray's 2-2 bested Ca sada 's 1-3 for seco n d overa ll. Phil Butl er holesho t the first 250cc Junior class moto , but right o n hi s knobs wer e Mik e H od ges, Mik e G iem and Dann y Pacheco. Butler immediately began to open up a lead th at wou ld be qui te sizeable by the end of the rno to. Giem press ure d Hod ges for second and got by as th ey began 10 lap slowe r riders. H odg es th en fell victim 10 one o r the lappers and rem ounted in fou rth. While Hod ges was down , T yler Hummel scoo ted by an d took over third. Butl er took th e checkered flag well ah ead o r G iem , Hummel and H odges. Moto two saw Butl er cla im hi s seco nd holesh ot of th e day with H od ges, Hummel and G iern in tow . Giem gassed it o ver th e first jump, sailing pa st Hummel and in to third. As Butl er began to pull away , Hodges handed Gi em second p lace when he lost co nt ro l in th e whoops and went down. Giem tried to catch Butl er, but th e Yam aha rid er was already well o u t of reach . Butler took th e rnoto win ah ead of Gi em , Hummel and Mik e Severson. Butler's II earned him th e overa ll, ah ead of Gi em 's 2-2 and Hummel's 3-3. Jason Shi rey hol eshot th e first 60cc (9-11) mot o just ahea d of Paul Ito , Jimmy Varis and T erry Biel. Ito looped O Ul over th e first jump, and rem ounted in last p lace. Vari s and Biel took up the chase, but both riders lost contro l in the doubles and went down. This left David Keeney in second, but right o n hi s tail was Ito, who had cu t through the pack after his first-lap m ishap. Ito dove to th e in side of a right-hander and took o ver second, but in the next turn spu n o u t in th e mud. Shirey cro ssed the fin ish lin e ahead of Keeney, Ito and Varis. Shirey led Vari s, Ito and Jerry H avey off the line in rnoto two . Ito quickl y pass ed Varis and began to pressure Shirey. Ito 's bid for the lead ended on th e seco nd lap wh en he came up short o n a double and went down hard. Varis took over second, but was unable 10 catch th e leader. Shirey coasted to th e rnoto win and overall ahead of Varis and H arvey. Daniel Balb a s led th e 125c c Beginner class in th e first moto, but went down in the whoops on the first lap. This left J ason Lewis in the lead